Chris Gill: 'Good for the sport' or just business marketing?

Monday

Jul 19, 2010 at 12:01 AMJul 19, 2010 at 7:21 PM

Contrary to the belief that I spent two weeks of vacation playing the “Assassin’s Creed” games in my underwear, I gave the future of Indy car racing at Watkins Glen International a lot of thought – mainly while the game was loading. And I was wearing shorts.

Chris Gill

Contrary to the belief that I spent two weeks of vacation playing the “Assassin’s Creed” games in my underwear, I gave the future of Indy car racing at Watkins Glen International a lot of thought – mainly while the game was loading. And I was wearing shorts.

Two weeks ago, we left The Glen wondering if Will Power would be the last driver to hoist the Cameron Argetsinger Trophy. We couldn’t help but think if the victory laurel hanging party at the Seneca Lodge would be the last one. Despite the most gorgeous weather The Glen has enjoyed for an Indy grand prix, the weekend had a dark cloud hovering as the president of Watkins Glen International and the CEO of the Indy Racing League held two closed-door, one-on-one meetings to discuss the future of the race.

Power’s win for team owner Roger Penske also represented the end of the current contract between the two sides – an agreement struck for the last six years with a different management structure in Indianapolis. Randy Bernard was hired to lead American open-wheel racing in February, and made his first trip to Schuyler County for the Camping World Grand Prix. He met with WGI president Michael Printup, who had just completed his first year on the job, throughout that weekend. In comments to the press, each postured for negotiating position.

Asked point blank if The Glen was a good fit for the IZOD IndyCar Series, Bernard paused and said, “That’s a good question” before going into a detailed – and perhaps rehearsed – dissertation of what his vision of the sport is. There wasn’t much that jived with WGI’s status as a corporate offshoot of International Speedway Corp. Bernard talked about co-promotion and even owning events in the future so his people know exact attendance numbers, where marketing dollars are spent and to possess better overall control of the product. Being a bit of a control freak myself, I get that, but I don’t know how that plays in Daytona Beach, Fla., where The Glen’s parent company is based.

For a minute, put all the politics and Internet gossip aside and dig down to the real root of what could cause the only open-wheel racing series in the U.S. to snub a world-famous race track purposefully built for those kinds of cars.

Business marketing.

Anyone who reads this space with frequency knows I’m pretty anti-corporate anything – Wal-Mart stores are gateways to Hell; if I destroyed everything my family owns that’s made by the newest superpower China, we’d be sitting naked in an empty house with some milk and bread; and the thought of people already making eight-figure salaries getting automatic bonuses for being inept or outright evil is enough to make the most sane person adopt Robespierre as a role model.

That disease infected auto racing in the 1980s and has metastasized over the last 30 years to a point where marketing actually dictates what happens on race tracks in every major series. The phrase uttered more than any other in media centers across the globe is “good for the sport.” A quick translation: Making more money. Fans and the more gullible in the press jumped all over that theme and ran with it for decades, because they really though “good for the sport” included them – the naive rising tide lifts all boats theory.

It was once thought that leeches and cocaine were good for you, too.

“Good for the sport” means good for bottom lines and stock prices, it has nothing to do with the fans and it never did. How did NASCAR fans benefit from the boom during the 2000s? Higher ticket prices, jacked up hotel room rates, soul-less race tracks and insanely overpriced merchandise (mostly made in China).

Now the IRL is trying to do what’s “good for the sport” with a new business model. Bernard came into this job with no axes to grind or preconceived notions, and his plan may ultimately help boost the IndyCar Series’ status. At what cost? Does that mean losing a track like The Glen because it’s not perched in the middle of a metro area?

The reason places tailor-made for open-wheel racing – The Glen, Road America, Laguna Seca, etc. – are in question or out of the picture entirely is because of these damned demographic numbers concocted by some schmuck with a six-year degree, and little practical knowledge. Everyone on Earth loves races at those tracks except the number crunchers. You can’t build the best road courses in the world in a suburb, and real IndyCar fans want to see those cars at those tracks. The IRL shouldn’t penalize the great courses of North America because the fanbase is low at the moment.

Plopping a race in the middle of Baltimore isn’t the answer to all the series’ ills. Develop new fans, show them how awesome Indy cars and the drivers are and they’ll follow you anywhere – even to the middle of New York State, Wisconsin or the Monterey, Calif., coastline. This strategy wasn’t deduced by uttering any of the garbage buzz words like “synergy” or “revenue stream,” just the same common sense that keeps most of us from getting thrown off a Gator more than once (long story).

Save some money and close the marketing department – Wal-Mart’s always hiring.